Lessons Learned From The Hero Round Table

Lessons learned from The Hero Round Table talk attempt are pretty obvious (once you see the video). I am very grateful to Matt Langdon for the opportunity. He let me have my first speaking chance. This was an outstanding experience and education. All of the speakers were welcoming and supportive from a wide range of backgrounds. They also ranged in age from 12 years old to me at 55 years old (I think I was the oldest one speaking). The talks covered segments of heroism.

So, what did I learn?

1) Speaking is hard!
There is a big difference between talking in class or demonstrations and speaking on a topic. I get teased about talking too much during classes, so I’m not really shy about it. I’ve been known to talk a great deal at seminar dinners or demonstrations. It was shocking how difficult it turned out to just talk without prompts of questions and seeing the audience reactions.

2) Preparing the presentation isn’t the same as knowing the information
I had planned to use Powerpoint slides to help keep me on track, which failed horribly. The nerves got the better of me and I out talked my slides. Talking too fast caused me to talk through all the slides before I got to them…and left me without any guides to finish the talk. It really sucked being that there was still five minutes left!

3) Didn’t understand the subject well enough – heroic action vs morally heroic
I was REALLY surprised to learn about the variety of viewpoints taken and the education levels of the speakers. One area included building sustainable economies in other countries, while another area was on serving families/groups. These stretched my definition of hero. While the 12 year olds are still working the education angle, a couple of speakers were psychologists focusing on heroism.

Then again, there’s these…

1) Great opportunity to fail
Those who know me have already figured out that I’ll try stuff, lots of stuff. A few times it’s been something that I’ve never done before. This was one of those times. I do view the opportunity to fail more as a learning event that actually failing.

2) Great support from speakers, which felt like family
The speaker’s dinner the night before and the conversation afterward was greatly enjoyed. It was wonderful to feel so welcomed into a group. People who had never heard of me were interested in my thoughts and how I came to the event.

3) Respond with further development to truly become a hero!
Now that I’ve had the chance to work with this group and got to see the mindset, I can develop my knowledge and presentation skills to truly fit the event. Continuing learning is always part of what I teach, so it is only proper that I continue as well.